H  E 

Z79 1 


UC-NRLF 


1DD    Sfl? 


CT 


PROCEEDINGS 


OF   THE 


WESTERN  RAIL-ROAD  CORPORATION, 

JANUARY  21,  1842: 


INCLUDING   AN 


ADDRESS    TO    THE    PEOPLE 

OF   THE 

COMMONWEALTH  OF  MASSACHUSETTS, 

OK  THE  APPLICATION  FOR  A  RESTORATION  OP  THE 

ORIGINAL  PRIVILEGES  OF  THE  CORPORATION, 

AND  FOR  OTHER  MEASURES,  CALCULATED  TO  SUSTAIN  THE  CREDIT, 
AND  PROMOTE  THE  INTEREST  OF  THE  STATE. 

TO    WHICH   IS   ADDED 

A  LETTER  FROM  THE  AGENT  OF  THE  CORPORATION 

i 

TO   THK 

POSTMASTER    GENERAL. 


Boston : 

DUTTON   AND    WENTWORTH,   PRINTERS. 
1842. 


j&ff't 


WESTERN  RAIL-ROAD  CORPORATION. 


AT  a  special  meeting  of  the  Western  Rail-road  Corporation, 
held  in  Boston,  and  very  numerously  attended,  January  21, 
1842, 

Ordered  unanimously.  That  the  Board  of  Directors  of  the 
Western  Rail-road  Corporation,  be,  and  they  are  hereby  re- 
quired and  enjoined  to  apply  to  the  Legislature  of  this  Com- 
monwealth, now  in  session,  for  a  restoration  of  the  original 
privileges  of  the  Western  Rail-road  Corporation. 

Ordered  unanimously,  That  the  Board  of  Directors  of  the 
Western  Rail-road  Corporation  be,  and  they  are  hereby  re- 
quired and  enjoined  to  apply  to  the  Legislature  of  this  Com- 
monwealth, now  in  session,  for  a  law,  allowing  all  Corporations 
in  this  Commonwealth  to  Loan  on  any  part  of  the  $1,000,000 
Stock  of  the  City  of  Albany,  issued  for  the  benefit  of  the  West- 
ern Rail-road  Corporation,  and  also  to  purchase  said  Stock ; — 
and  also  allowing  any  Rail-road  Corporation  which  has  had 
the  loan  of  the  credit  of  the  State,  to  purchase  any  stock  of  the 
State  of  Massachusetts,  bearing  the  same  rate  of  interest,  as 
the  stock  issued  in  its  aid,  and  surrender  said  Massachusetts 
State  Stock  to  the  Commonwealth,  cancelling,  pro  tanto,  its 
Mortgage  to  the  State,  with  the  right  to  create  new  shares  in 
its  own  Company  to  the  amount  thus  surrendered ;  and  also 
allowing  the  investment  of  the  Sinking  Fund  of  any  Rail-road 
Corporation  to  be  made  in  any  Stock  of  the  State  of  Massachu- 
setts, or  in  the  above-named  Stock  of  the  City  of  Albany. 

Ordered  unanimously,  That  a  Committee  of  twenty-one  be 
appointed  to  aid  the  Board  of  Directors,  in  their  application  to 
the  Legislature  for  the  purposes  expressed  in  the  foregoing 
votes ;  with  power  to  enlarge  their  number. 


M221592 


4 

Ordered  unanimously,  That  the  following  persons  compose 
said  Committee. 

William  Savage,  Chairman. 

Amos  Binney,  Nathaniel  H.  Emmons, 

James  Boyd,  Stephen  Fairbanks, 

Richard  W.  Bayley,  Samuel  Fales, 

Gideon  Barstow,  Salem,  Addison  Gilmore, 

Edward  Cruft,  Jr.  David  Henshaw, 

Thomas  B.  Curtis,  Francis  Jackson, 

Joseph  S.  Cabot,  Salem,  Sargent  S.  Littlehale, 

Uriel  Crocker,  George  Pratt, 

P.  P.  F.  Degrand,  Ebenezer  Smith,  Jr. 

Benjamin  A.  Eaton,  John  E.  Thayer. 

P.  P.  F.  Degrand  submitted  the  draft  of  an  Address  to  the 
people  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts,  which  was 
read  and  unanimously  adopted. 

A  Communication  was  received  from  George  Bliss,  the 
Agent  of  the  Corporation,  submitting,  for  the  information  of 
the  Stockholders,  a  letter  addressed  by  him  to  the  Postmaster 
General,  on  the  subject  of  the  transportation  of  the  Mails  be- 
tween Worcester  and  Albany. 

Ordered  unanimously,  That  the  foregoing  proceedings  of 
this  meeting,  including  the  Address  now  adopted  by  the  Stock- 
holders, and  the  Communications  of  the  Agent,  be  certified  by 
the  President  and  Clerk  of  the  Corporation,  and  that  a  copy 
thereof  be  forwarded,  by  the  Clerk,  to  the  Governor  and  to  the 
Lieutenant  Governor  of  the  Commonwealth,  to  each  Counsellor, 
Senator,  and  member  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  to 
each  Stockholder. 

THOMAS  B.  WALES,  President. 
ELLIS  GRAY  LORING,   Clerk. 


WESTERN  RAIL-ROAD  ADDRESS 

To  the  People  of  Massachusetts  : 

BOSTON,  21  Jan.  1842. 

FELLOW  CITIZENS, 

THANKS  to  the  enlightened  forecast  of  the  Legislature  of 
Massachusetts,  your  ardent  and  patriotic  desire  of  reaching  by 
Rail-Road,  the  mouth  of  the  Erie  Canal,  has  been  accomplished. 
We  have  now  secured,  for  all  time,  to  Massachusetts,  as  well 
as  to  New  England,  whose  trade  centers  in  our  own  State,  the 
best  line  of  communication  to  the  Great  West,  which  the  light 
of  the  Age  has  given  to  mankind. — Let  us  render  thanks  to  a 
kind  Providence,  that  we  have  been  enable^  to  accomplish  this 
Great  National  purpose,  in  a  very  brief  space  of  time,  in  the 
midst  of  unparalleled  difficulties  in  the  Money-Market  and 
through  chains  of  Mountains,  which  seemed  to  present  insu- 
perable obstacles. 

The  line  of  Rail-Road  between  Boston  and  Albany,  with  its 
numerous  appended  communications  by  Steam,  in  all  direc- 
tions, all  over  New  England,  forms  a  web,  which,  without  cost 
to  the  Nation,  defends  almost  every  harbor  in  New  England 
and  some  even  out  of  New  England. — Placing,  at  every  point, 
even  to  the  frontiers  of  Canada, — the  power  of  commanding, 
with  great  celerity,  the  concentration  of  a  great  force,  this  web 
warns  Foreign  Powers  of  the  futility  of  any  attempt  to  make  a 
lodgement  on  our  territory,  and  is  not  only  our  best  defence  in 

(war,  but  also  and  emphatically,  our  best  Negociator,  for  the  pre- 
servation of  Peace. 


FELLOW  CITIZENS, 

AMIDST  the  wreck  of  State  Credits,  in  all  directions,  the  credit 
of  Massachusetts  has  stood  unshaken  ;  and  now  the  completion 
of  the  Communication  to  Albany  by  the  Western  Rail-Road 
furnishes  the  additional  Guarantee  of  the  Revenue  of  that  Road, 
to  meet  the  interest  and  Sinking  Fund  of  the  $4,000,000  debt, 
contracted  by  the  State,  in  aid  of  this  Great  Work. 

We  are  however  forewarned  by  the  times,  that  it  is  highly 
important  to  adopt  every  measure  in  our  power,  which  may 
have  a  natural  tendency  to  decrease  the  total  amount  of  our 
State  Stocks. — We  therefore  respectfully  propose  : 

1st.  That  the  various  Rail-Roads  which  have  received  the 
aid  of  the  credit  of  the  State,  be  authorized  to  purchase  in  the 
Market  and  to  surrender  to  the  State  Treasury,  any  State  Stock 
(bearing  the  same  rate  of  Interest,  as  the  Stock  issued  in  their 
aid,)  cancelling,  pro  tanto,  their  Mortgage  to  the  State,  with 
the  right  to  issue  new  Stock  of  their  own  Company,  to  the 
amount  thus  paid  off  to  the  State. 

2nd.  That  the  Commissioners  of  the  Sinking  Fund,  for  any 
of  the  Rail-Roads  having  received  the  aid  of  the  State,  have 
the  right  to  invest  'any  part  of  this  Sinking  Fund,  in  Stock  of 
the  State  of  Massachusetts. 

The  first  of  these  propositions  would  have  a  very  strong  ten- 
dency to  impel  the  Eastern  Rail-Road  to  create  $500,000  new 
Stock ;  to  purchase  $500,000  State  5  pr  cts.  in  the  Market  and 
surrendering  these  to  the  State,  liberate  itself  entirely  from  its 
debt  to  the  State. 

Both  of  these  propositions  would  very  naturally  cause  the 
other  Rail-Roads  which  have  received  the  aid  of  the  State,  to 
adopt,  in  whole  or  in  part,  a  like  course. 

We  would  also  respectfully  propose  that  the  privileges  origi- 
nally granted,  to  the  Western  Rail-Road,  be  restored  to  them, 
so  that  they  may  be  placed  on  the  same  footing  as  the  Eastern, 
Worcester,  Lowell  and  other  Rail-Roads  in  Massachusetts  : — 
and  then,  the  Stockholders  of  the  Western  Rail-Road  will,  at 
the  proper  time,  have  a  reasonable  inducement  to  pay  in  more 


capital,  either  by  assessments  on  old  Shares  or  by  the  creation 
of  new  Shares ; — thus  adding  to  the  security  of  the  State  and 
even,  perhaps,  at  no  distant  day,  surrendering  (as  the  Nashua 
and  the  New  Bedford  Rail-Roads  have  done)  the  S(tate  Stock, 
which,  in  their  time  of  need,  was  so  kindly,  furnished  them  by 
the  State. 

The  business  of  the  Western  Rail-Road  will,  very  soon,  be 
so  great  as  to  require  a  2d  Track  :  and  the  question  presents 
itself:  "  Who  is  to  furnish  the  Capital,  to  build  this  2d  Track  "? 
Shall  the  Stockholders  furnish  this  Capital  ?  Or,  shall  it  be 
furnished,  by  a  fresh  loan  of  the  Credit  of  the  State  ? 

If  it  be  the  desire  of  the  People  of  Massachusetts,  that  this 
2d  Track  be  built  with  Money,  furnished  by  the  Stockholders, 
justice  will  suggest  the  propriety  of  enabling  these  Stockholders 
to  look  upon  their  Capital,  as  taking  the  like  chance  of  Profit, 
as  does  the  Capital,  invested  in  the  other  Rail-Roads  in  Massa- 
chusetts.— If  this  equality  of  advantages  be  denied,  it  will  ob- 
viously occur  to  a  sagacious  People,  that  the  Stockholders  will, 
in  such  a  case,  petition  the  Legislature,  for  the  additional  aid 
necessary  to  build  this  2d  Track  : — and  such  is  the  popularity 
of  the  enterprise,  founded  on  the  substantial  benefit  it  confers 
on  every  portion  of  the  Commonwealth ; — and  such  will  be  the 
general  impulse,  in  favor  of  a  2d  Track,  thus  called  for  by  the 
pressure  of  business, — that  the  aid  of  the  Credit  of  the  State 
will,  in  such  a  contingency,  be  given,  as  a  matter  of  course. 

If  then  it  be  desirable  to  avoid  increasing  the  amount  of  State 
Debt,  is  it  not  perfectly  clear,  that  restoring  the  original  privile- 
ges of  the  Western  Rail-Road  is  the  only  alternative  1 — And 
why  should  not  the  Money,  invested  by  individuals  in  this 
Great  Work,  be  treated  as  favourably,  as  the  Money  invested 
by  individuals,  in  other  Rail-Roads  in  the  State  ? — What  fault 
have  the  Stockholders  of  the  Western  Rail-Road  committed, 
that  they  should  deserve,  at  the  hands  of  a  generous  people, 
grateful  for  the  benefits  conferred  by  the  Road, — less  chance  of 
remunerating  profit^  than  their  fellow-labourers  in  the  other 
Branches  of  the  same  Grand  System  of  Massachusetts  Rail- 
Roads,  which,  in  future  ages,  is  destined  to  present  an  imper- 
ishable monument  of  the  fame  of  the  present  generation  ? 


8 


FELLOW  CITIZENS, 


ALREADY,  the  Directors  of  the  Western  Rail-Road,  have  laid 
two  assessments,  together  $20  per  Share,  beyond  the  amount, 
which  had  been  prescribed,  by  the  Acts  granting  the  aid  of  the 
State. — They  have  done  this,  to  protect  the  Credit  of  Massa- 
chusetts and  the  sacrifice  of  her  interest  as  a  Stockholder,  by 
preventing  the  necessity  of  selling  State  Stocks,  at  ruinous  pri- 
ces, at  the  present  critical  moment.  The  prompt  passage  of  the 
Act  now  proposed,  will  be  a  valuable  auxiliary,  in  stimulating 
the  Stockholders  promptly  to  pay  these  $20 ;  thereby  adding  to 
the  Security  of  the  State,  as  Loanor  of  its  Credit  to  the  West- 
ern Rail-Road. — This  Act  will  also  enable  such  Stockholders 
as  embarked  in  this  Patriotic  Enterprise  and  may  be  obliged  to 
sell,  to  part  with  their  Stock,  at  less  sacrifice. 


FELLOW  CITIZENS, 

WE  beg  leave  to  suggest  the  utility  of  a  Law,  allowing  any 
Corporation  in  this  Commonwealth  to  make  Loans  upon  and 
investments  in  the  Stock  issued,  for  the  benefit  of  the  Western 
Rail-Road,  by  the  City  of  Albany.— Its  amount  is  $1,000,000. 
It  is  secured  by  a  Mortgage  to  the  City  of  Albany  of  the  38 
Miles  of  Road,  between  West  Stockbridge  and  Albany,  which 
will  cost  $1,400,000.  It  is  secured  by  a  Sinking  Fund,  which 
begins  with  $100,000,  and  is,  every  year,  to  be  increased  by 
$10,000. — It  is  secured  by  the  agreement  of  the  Western  Rail- 
Road  punctually  to  pay  the  Principal  and  interest  of  the  Loan  : 
— and  last,  not  least,  it  is  the  City  of  Albany,  which  is  answer- 
able as  Principal  and  which  promises  to  pay ;  a  City  distin- 
guished for  its  small  debt,  great  wealth,  cautious  habits,  settled 
integrity  and  punctuality. — This  Stock  presents  a  very  conve- 
nient and  advantageous  Investment  for  our  Savings  Institutions 
and  Insurance  Companies,  having,  on  an  average,  30  years  to 
run  and  being  payable  in  Boston,  to  Bearer,  at  the  Western 
Rail-Road  Office,  with  Interest  at  6  pr.  ct.  pr.  annum,  payable 
semi-annually,  with  interest- warrants  attached. 


9 


FELLOW  CITIZENS, 


BY  means  of  the  Western  Rail-Road, — a  Great  National 
Work, — constructed  without  the  slightest  disbursement  by  the 
Treasury  of  the  United  States, — a  very  powerful  fleet  can,  in 
a  few  days,  (of  winter  as  well  as  summer)  be  equipped  on  Lake 
Erie,  on  Lake  Ontario,  on  Lake  Champlain, — with  materials, 
munitions  of  war,  workmen  and  seamen,  brought  from  the 
Charlestown  Navy  Yard. 


FEL'LOW  CITIZENS, 

THE  Western  Rail-Road,  between  Worcester  and  Albany, 
will,  with  a  Single  Track,  cost        .         .         .  $6,700,000 

add  to  this,  the  cost  of  the  Boston  and  Worcester 

Rail-Road, 2,300,000 

and  we  have  an  expenditure  of        ...  $9,000,000 

for  the  line  of  200  Miles  of  Rail-Roads,  between  Boston  and 
Albany. — These  Rail-Roads  form  the  only  link,  on  which  the 
Land  Mail  can  be  transported,  in  a  way  satisfactory  to  common 
sense,  either  between  Boston  and  Albany  and  places  right  and 
left  of  the  Road, — or  between  Boston  and  New  York,  as  far  as 
Springfield, — or  even  between  Albany  and  New  York  City,  in 
the  winter,  as  to  some  portion  of  the  Western  Rail-Road. — This 
Line  of  Rail-Roads  between  Boston  and  Albany,  has  been  con- 
structed, without  any  contribution  from  the  Post  Office  Depart- 
ment. The  Cost  of  these  200  Miles  of  Rail-Roads  and  of  their 
Repairs,  is  borne  by  their  Stockholders.  How  unreasonable 
then,  has  it  been  for  the  Post  Office  Department  to  hold  up  to 
public  obloquy  the  Price  asked  by  these  Rail-Roads  for  trans- 
porting the  Mail,  on  the  ground  that  it  was  higher  than  the 
charge  by  Coaches  ! 

In  the  case  of  the  Coaches,  transporting  the  Mail  on  the 
Common  Roads,   the  Interest  on  the  Cost  of  these  Common 
2 


10 

Roads,  cost  to  the  Coaches,  nothing,  say          .        .        $00  00 
The  Repairs  of  said  Common  Roads,  cost  to  said 
Coaches, 00  00 

Total  Cost,  to  the  Coaches,  for  Construction  and 
Repairs  of  the  Common  Roads,  on  which  they 
carry  the  Mail,  $00  00 

Now  let  us  see  how  the  case  stands,  as  to  the  Rail-Roads  : 
The  Interest  on  the  above  $9,000,000,  which  is  their  cost,  at 

6  pr  ct  pr  ann.,  is- $540,000 

Repairs,  annually,  .         .         .         .  .         60,000 

Interest  and  Repairs,  annually,        ....     $600,000 

Is  it  reasonable,  then,  to  compare  the  Charge,  by  Coaches,  to 
the  Charge  by  the  Rail-Roads,  and  to  say  nothing  of  this  an- 
nual difference  of  $600,000  ? 

Suppose  that  these  Rail-Roads  should  say  to  the  Post  Office 
Department,  "  Just  do  for  us  gratis,  what  is  done  gratis  for  the 
Coaches, — and  we  will  transport  the  Mail,  for  nothing"  ! — the 
Result  would  be  an  annual  Payment,  by  the  Post  Office  De- 
partment, of $600,000 

whereas  the  Rail-Roads  are  content  to  take,  at  pres- 
ent, what  the  Law  allows  the  Post  Master  Gene- 
ral to  pay,  viz— 60,000 

Thus  making,  every  year,  a  saving  to  the  United 
States,  of  $540,000 


FELLOW  CITIZENS, 

THE  Nation  spent  several  Millions,  in  constructing  the  Cum- 
berland Road  to  insure  the  Transportation  of  the  Mail,  as  well 
as  to  insure  other  National  purposes,  which  are  better  perform- 
ed by  the  Rail-Road  System. — Is  not  the  Interest  on  the  Cost 
of  the  Cumberland  Road,  or  some  portion  of  that  Interest 


11 

chargeable,  as  a  part  of  the  Cost  of  transporting  the  Mail,  by 
Coaches,  on  the  Cumberland  Road  ? 

Shall,  then,  the  People  of  Massachusetts,  who,  as  Stock- 
holders, own  one  third  of  the  Western  Rail-Road,  and  who 
have  loaned  $4,000,000  upon  it,  make  no  effort  to  impel  the 
Post  Office  Department  to  give  to  it  a  suitable  compensation, 
for  the  Transportation  of  the  Mail ; — a  compensation  having 
some  sort  of  reference  to  its  great  cost  and  to  the  cost  of  its 
Repairs? — Or  shall  their  voice  be  heard,  in  favor  of  a  suitable 
remuneration,  for  all  this  Capital  and  for  the  risk  incurred  in 
embarking  this  Capital,  in  a  scheme  which  many  deemed,  un- 
til now,  very  hazardous? — Shall  the  Press  speak? — Shall  the 
Legislatures  of  Massachusetts,  of  New  York,  and  of  the  Great 
West  (to  whose  citizens  the  Western  Rail-Road,  for  all  practi- 
cal purposes,  belongs)  speak  and  request  their  Senators  and 
Representatives  in  Congress,  as  well  as  the  President  of  the 
United  States  and  his  Cabinet,  to  cause  justice  to  be  done  by 
the  Post  Office  Department,  to  a  work  so  highly  useful  to  the 
whole  Country  and  in  which  the  people  of  Massachusetts  have 
so  deep  an  interest,  in  every  point  of  view  ? 


FELLOW  CITIZENS, 

IN  interchanging  Resolves,  at  a  very  early  period,  and  in  the 
various  steps  of  Legislation  which  led  to  the  building  of  the 
Erie  Canal  and  more  especially  of  the  line  of  Rail-Roads  from 
Massachusetts  Bay  nearly  to  Lake  Erie,  the  Legislature  and 
the  People  of  both  Massachusetts  and  New  York  State  eould 
not  but  have  in  view  to  secure  for  Western  New  York,  during 
the  4  winter  months,  as  well  as  for  the  other  8  months  of  the 
year, — a  commercial  and  a  social  existence  ; — to  secure,  for  that 
great,  populous,  thriving,  industrious  and  growing  portion  of 
the  State  of  New  York,  access  to  the  sea,  throughout  the  year. 
The  restriction,  as  to  carrying  Freight,  on  a  portion  of  the  Rail- 
Roads  parallel  to  the  Erie  Canal,  is  clearly  inconsistent  with 
this  beneficent  original  intent. — The  enlightened  Legislature  of 
New  York  will  doubtless  perceive  (the  very  moment  its  atten- 


I 


12 

tion  is  called  to  the  subject)  that  the  time  has  now  arrived, 
when  the  public  interest,  as  well  as  even-handed  justice  to 
Western  New  York,  requires  that  this  restriction  be  taken  off, 
even  if  it  should  be  deemed  proper  to  accompany  this  permis- 
sion to  take  Freight,  by  a  moderate  Toll,  charged  to  the  Rail- 
Roads,  on  such  Freight,  for  the  benefit  of  the  Canal  Fund. — It 
surely  cannot  be  the  desire  of  an  impartial  Legislature  to  con- 
fine to  the  neighborhood  of  the  single  City  of  Albany,  the  win- 
ter-access to  the  Markets  of  the  whole  world.  To  deny  this 
access,  is  to  decree  four  months  of  comparative  idleness ; — to 
decree  the  loss  of  the  best  time  to  sell,  for  a  vast  amount  of 
Agricultural  products,  and  of  the  best  time  to  buy,  for  a  large 
amount  of  Goods  from  New  England  and  from  abroad. — It  is 
to  decree  the  loss  of  four  months'  interest  on  the  enormous 
amount  of  the  winter-supplies  and  of  the  sales  of  Agricultural 
Products,  which  will  be  made  in  the  winter,  if  the  law  permit. 
Whatever  might  be  said,  in  favor  of  the  restrictive  policy,  while 
Albany  had  no  winter-access  to  the  Ocean, — disappears  now 
that  the  promethean  heat  of  Locomotive  fire  has  given  her  life 
during  the  dead  season. — The  winter  is  the  time  when  Fresh 
Fish  and  Fresh  Provisions  can  be  transported  freest  from  the  dan- 
ger of  being  spoilt. — It  is  the  time  when  the  Farmer  is  most  at 
leisure  and  when  he  can,  most  conveniently,  visit  the  seaboard, 
with  his  Produce  and  his  Family  and  select  such  returns  as  he 
may  desire. 

The  enlightened  friends  of  the  Erie  Canal,— ^a  work  of  infi- 
nite good, — cannot  allow  themselves  to  sustain  a  restriction,  so 
clearly  inconsistent  with  the  spirit  of  the  age. 

A  simple  suggestion  to  the  Legislature  of  New  York,  from 
the  Legislature  of  Massachusetts,  will  doubtless  suffice  to  pro- 
duce the  desired  effect. 


FELLOW  CITIZENS, 

WE  cannot  forbear  adverting  to  the  uniform  kindness  and 
enlightened  spirit,  with  which  the  Mayor,  Council  and  People 
of  Albany,  and  indeed  the  Governor,  the  Legislature  and  the 


13 

People  of  the  State  of  New  York  have  cherished  every  step  of 
our  Great  Enterprize.  They  have  had  a  just  conception  of  its 
immense  advantages  to  both  States  and  to  the  whole  Country. — 
Indeed  the  Commander  in  Chief  of  the  State  of  New  York 
ordered  a  National  Salute  of  26  Guns  to  be  fired,  in  commemo- 
ration of  the  opening  of  the  Western  Rail-Road,  as  an  event 
greatly  contributing  to  the  defence  of  the  Country  and  to 
cementing  the  Union. — The  recent  personal  interchange  of  the 
most  cordial  feeling,  between  a  large  body  of  the  Citizens  of 
Massachusetts  and  a  large  body  of  the  Citizens  of  Albany,  Hud- 
son, Troy,  Western  New  York  and  other  parts  of  that  Great 
State, — will  be  ever  remembered  with  gratitude  to  that  Supreme 
Being,  who  thus  cemented  bonds  of  friendship  which  must 
have  a  most  salutary  effect  on  the  whole  of  our  beloved  Coun- 
try and  wjhich  we  trust  will  endure  till  time  shall  be  no  more. 


14 


COMMUNICATION 

OF   THE 

AGENT  OF  THE  WESTERN    RAIL-ROAD   CORPORATION 
TO  THE  STOCKHOLDERS. 


OFFICE  OF  THE  WESTERN  RAIL-ROAD  CORPORATION, 
Springfield,  January  20,  1842. 

To  the  Stockholders  of  the  W.  R.  R.  Corporation : 

Having  been  the  past  year  charged  by  the  Board  of  Direct- 
ors with  the  duty  of  negotiating  for  the  transportation  of  the 
mails  upon  the  Road  between  Worcester  and  Albany,  and  made 
four  journeys  to  Washington  specially  for  this  purpose,  and  hav- 
ing not  only  failed  in  securing  a  contract  for  the  road  West  of 
Springfield,  but  been  obliged  to  allow  the  Department  to  put 
the  mails  between  Springfield  and  Worcester  into  wagons  after 
the  25th  instant,  and  having  been  already  called  upon  repeat- 
edly to  give  the  reasons  for  this  result ;  I  feel  it  my  duty  to 
give  an  exposition  of  the  matter  to  those  most  particularly  in- 
terested. And  as  my  last  letter  to  the  Department  embraced  a 
review  of  the  whole  negotiation,  I  cannot,  perhaps,  better  an- 
swer the  object  in  view,  than  by  presenting  a  copy  of  that  let- 
ter, which  I  hereto  subjoin. 

I  am,  very  respectfully,  your  ob't  serv'nt, 

GEO.  BLISS,  Agent. 


15 


LETTER 

FROM  THE 

AGENT  OF  THE  WESTERN   RAIL-ROAD   CORPORATION 
TO  THE  POST  MASTER  GENERAL. 


OFFICE  OF  W.  R.  R.  CORPORATION,  ) 
Springfield,  (Ms.)  Jan.  15,  1842.      \ 

Hon.  C.  A.  Wickliffe,  P.  M.  General : 

SIR, — Having  on  my  recent  visit  to  Washington  presented  a 
claim  in  behalf  of  this  Corporation  for  mail  service  between 
Worcester  and  Springfield,  six  times  a  week  each  way,  with  a 
mail-car  and  mail-agent,  since  July  1,  and  the  department  hav- 
ing refused  to  pay  therefor  a  sum  deemed  sufficient  to  compen- 
sate for  the  trouble  and  expenses  of  the  service,  I  am  constrain- 
ed under  the  order  of  the  Directors  to  renew  the  notice  given 
you  in  November  last,  that  we  shall  discontinue  the  service  on 
the  25th  day  of  January  inst. 

In  justification  of  this  course,  I  deem  it  my  duty  to  submit 
and  place  upon  file,  a  review  of  the  proceedings  and  negotia- 
tions upon  the  subject,  that  the  department,  and  if  you  please, 
the  public,  may  have  embodied  the  means  of  knowing  the 
causes  which  have  led  to  this  result. 

Prior  to  Dec.  1839,  the  service  was  by  stages,  at  $3000  per 
annum.  At  that  time,  I  proposed  verbally  through  my  agent, 
to  take  the  mails  by  rail-road  till  July  1,  1841,  for  $5,500.  This 
was  declined,  and  $3,750  offered  by  the  department,  for  which 
I  proposed  to  do  the  service,  Dec.  14.  But  this  also  was 


16 

rejected,  unless  I  would  include  two  way-offices,  requiring  11 
miles  stage-service.  I  offered  to  do  this  for  $4,000,  including 
16  miles  horse-service  each  way,  costing  us  about  $1,000.  For 
this,  a  contract  was  executed  and  the  duty  performed.  The 
avowed  object  was,  to  get  the  stages  off  the  line. 

In  the  Spring  of  1840  the  department  requested  us  to  put  a 
mail-car  on  the  line,  and  transport  a  mail-agent  without  further 
compensation.  To  this  we  assented,  as  a  great  accommodation 
to  the  way-offices,  reserving  the  right  to  discontinue  it,  if  oner- 
ous or  expensive.  This  has  been  continued  since  August,  1840. 

Prior  to  July  1,  1841,  I  made  several  proposals  at  different 
times  for  four  years'  service  after  that  date,  for  two  mails  each 
way,  one  six  times  a  week  and  one  seven  times,  the  latter  night- 
service,  leaving  Springfield  at  3J  A.  M.,  and  requiring  a  special 
train.  All  were  rejected  or  suspended — an  offer  was  made  me, 
which  was  declined,  and  I  withdrew  the  bids  on  my  third  visit 
to  Washington.  In  the  offer  made  me  June  8,  the  department 
requested  an  immediate  answer,  "  as  steps  are  to  be  taken  with- 
out further  delay  for  organizing  other  modes  of  mail  convey- 
ance, if  the  foregoing  terms  shall  be  rejected." 

My  answer  of  June  12,  declining  the  offer,  closed  with  say- 
ing, "  that  we  shall  not  think  of  discontinuing  our  present  ser- 
vice on  1st  of  July,  if  the  convenience  of  the  department  will 
be  promoted  by  a  temporary  holding  over,  under  the  old  con- 
tract." This  was  under  the  expectation  that  the  department 
would  do  as  they  had  promised  June  8,  and  provide  other  con- 
veyance "  without  further  delay."  The  service  offered  by  me 
was  to  be  done  by  authority  of  the  old  contract — but  not  speci- 
fically on  the  terms  of  that  contract — and  it  was  to  be  tempo- 
rary. 

On  July  16,  nothing  having  been  done,  and  no  request  hav- 
ing been  then  made  us  to  continue,  I  wrote  the  department  that 
we  were  carrying  the  mails  without  authority — that  sub-con- 
tractors for  supplying  way-offices,  were  anxious  to  know  what 
was  to  be  done  for  the  future — and  desiring  to  be  informed 
whether  any  provision  had  been,  or  would  be  soon  made  on  the 
subject.  No  notice  being  taken  of  this  letter, — on  the  14th  of 
August  I  again  wrote,  referring  to  my  last,  unanswered,  and 


17 

stating  that  half  a  quarter  having  expired,  "  some  understand- 
ing should  be  had  soon." 

Aug.  24,  Maj.  Hobbie  wrote  that  the  department  "  had  not 
taken  any  further  proceedings  relative  to  sending  the  mail  over 
your  (our)  road,  or  any  other  route  as  substitute,  than  contin- 
uing the  old  service  over  the  Springfield  "  &c.  road. 

On  Sept.  7th,  I  wrote  Maj.  Hobbie,  "If  by  continuing  the 
old  service  over  on  the  Springfield  &c.  route,  you  intend  only 
the  same  compensation  paid  before  July  1,  it  is  proper  that  I 
say  in  answer,  that  the  company  think  that  totally  inadequate , 
and  we  are  unwilling  to  perform  the  service  on  those  terms,'1 
adding  that  the  price  paid  the  stages  was  no  criterion  for  rail- 
road service — and  that  /  hoped  some  other  provision  would  soon 
be  made. 

No  further  notice  being  taken  of  the  matter,  on  Oct.  21,  (4£ 
months  after  I  had  been  assured  steps  would  be  taken  without 
delay  to  provide  other  conveyance,)  I  addressed  to  yourself  a 
letter,  reciting  the  facts,  and  saying  that  it  could  not  be  expect- 
ed that  we  had  done  or  would  do  the  service  for  the  small  pit- 
tance, for  which  we  took  the  mail  from  the  stages :  that  we 
were  willing  to  do  service  for  the  future  on  fair  terms  and  ex- 
tend it  to  Albany.  And  if  you  would  send  us  a  schedule,  we 
would  make  proposals  upon  it,  without  delay.  But  if  the  de- 
partment were  averse  to  this,  I  added  "  I  hope  they  will  make 
some  early  arrangement  to  relieve  us  from  the  service  at  pres- 
ent done  on  sufferance"  To  this  also  no  answer  was  received. 

And,  on  Nov.  8,  I  again  addressed  Maj.  Hobbie,  stating  that 
we  were  upon  the  5th  month  of  this  service  for  the  accommo- 
dation of  the  department,  were  paying  sub-contractors,  and 
had  no  assurance  whether  any,  and  if  any,  what  compensation 
would  be  allowed.  That  we  were  disposed  to  make  a  fair  con- 
tract for  service  from  Worcester  to  Albany,  if  desired.  But  as 
the  Post  Master  General  seemed  not  inclined  to  it,  /  was  in- 
structed to  say  we  wished  the  department  to  make  other  provi- 
sion for  the  present  mail  by  1st  of  Dec.,  and  as  much  earlier  as 
was  convenient.  That  at  that  date  we  should  discontinue  its 
transportation.  The  receipt  of  this  peremptory  notice  was  not 
even  acknowledged,  until  I  had  given  to  your  travelling  agent 
3 


18 

here,  the  same  notice  on  the  22d  Nov.,  and  until  I  had  again  on 
23d  Nov.  addressed  to  yourself  a  long  letter,  asking  your  spe- 
cial personal  attention  to  this  matter  at  an  early  day,  and  stat- 
ing that  I  was  the  more  solicitous  about  it,  because,  if  we  dis- 
continued the  mail,  it  would  give  great  inconvenience  to  the 
business  community,  complaints  against  us  would  be  made,  and 
I 'might  be  compelled  to  state  to  the  public  the  history  of  our 
negotiations — a  course  I  was  anxious  to  avoid.  While  writing 
this,  I  was  favored  with  a  note  from  Maj.  Hobbie,  of  19th  of 
Nov.,  stating  that  our  terms  and  pay  not  having  been  adjusted, 
but  in  view  that  quarterly  payments  are  required,  and  should 
be  made,  the  Post  Master  Generals  considering  that  we  had  been 
performing  service  six  times  a  week,  had  recognized  the  per- 
formance of  it,  at  the  rate  of  old  pay,  and  referred  the.  matter 
to  the  auditor,  &c.  In  answer  to  this  I  added  in  the  foregoing 
of  the  23d,  that  the  sum  allowed  was  $3,000  for  55  miles  of 
rail-road  service,  for  the  most  important  mail  route,  save  per- 
haps one,  in  all  New  England,  and  $1,000  for  19  (16)  miles  of 
supply  of  way-offices,  about  $54  per  mile.  That  this  we  could 
not  consent  to,  as  "  there  was  a  point  beyond  which  endurance 
was  a  fault " 

It  may  be  well  to  add  here,  that  although  my  peremptory 
notice  of  the  8th  Nov.  was  unanswered,  yet  I  received  from 
yourself  a  request  of  the  19th,  to  attend  a  convention  of  rail- 
road delegates  at  Washington,  on  the  1st  of  Jan.,  but  no  allu- 
sion was  made  to  my  pressing  letters. 

Under  date  of  24th  Nov.,  I  received  a  letter  from  your  agent 
here,  requesting  or  suggesting  a  continuance  of  the  service  for 
awhile  after  1st  Dec.  To  which,  on  the  25th,  I  proposed  to  con- 
sult the  Directors,  and  on  the  30th  I  advised  him  of  their  con- 
sent to  postpone  till  10th  of  Dec. — when  the  mail  was  ordered 
to  be  discontinued,  unless  some  arrangement  should  be  made 
concerning  it, — that  if  the  department  would  evince  any  rea- 
sonable disposition  to  act  efficiently,  we  were  not  only  not  dis- 
posed to  embarrass  them,  but  were  quite  willing  to  afford  all 
the  aid  in  our  power.  But  it  must  be  understood,  that  we  were 
in  earnest  in  the  matter,  and  were  not  to  be  put  off  from  month 
to  month,  with  the  encouragement  that  we  were  to  receive  a 
compensation  equal  only  to  a  second-class  stage-service. 


19 

My  letter  to  you  of  the  23d  Nov.,  brought  soon  after  this  a 
long  one  from  Maj.  Hobble  of  the  27th,  apologising  for  and  ex- 
plaining the  delays  which  had  taken  place  since  Oct.  21st,  and 
principally  relating  to  the  subject  of  a  new  contract,  for  which 
he  wanted  proposals  from  me,  instead  of  resorting  to  the  "  ex- 
treme measure"  of  throwing  down  the  mails,  although  I  had  in 
mine  of  Oct.  21st  offered  to  make  proposals,  if  he  would  send 
me  a  schedule  of  the  service  required  between  Worcester  and 
Albany — (none  ever  having  been  furnished  or  advertised). 
Maj.  H.,  however,  adds,  that  his  letter  (of  19th  Nov.)  inform- 
ing me  of  the  order  to  pay  us  at  the  rate  of  old  compensation, 
appears  to  have  been  misapprehended,  and  then  follows  his  ex- 
planation. 

In  view  of  this  apparent  wish  of  the  department  for  delay — 
and  of  the  early  meeting  of  the  convention  on  the  1st  of  Jan.,  I 
on  the  3d  Dec.  consented  to  continue  service  till  after  that 
meeting,  when  I  would  make  proposals,  if  a  schedule  was  fur- 
nished. 

On  arriving  at  Washington,  I  learned  that  the  Auditor  ha  d 
orders  to  pay  us  $1000  only  per  quarter.  And  on  the  6th  inst. 
I  submitted  to  the  Department  in  writing,  a  statement  of  facts 
in  reference  to  the  service  performed  by  us,  and  asked  for  an 
additional  allowance,  setting  forth,  that  at  least  $150  per  mile 
ought  to  be  allowed.  ,At  an  interview  with  you  on  the  7th,  I 
desired  and  procured  an  appointment  at  your  office  in  the  eve- 
ning, to  enable  me  to  be  heard  on  the  subject,  and  submit  my 
views,  in  relation  to  the  claim.  I  was  the  more  desirous  of  such 
an  opportunity,  because  in  the  casual  conversation  with  you,  it 
was  apparent  to  my  mind  that  you  did  not  sufficiently  appre- 
ciate the  importance  of  this  mail  route,  to  the  public  or  the  De- 
partment, or  the  extent  of  the  service  performed, — for  you  then 
remarked  to  me,  that  the  proper  route  for  the  mail  matter  be- 
tween Boston  and  Albany,  was  by  way  of  the  city  of  New  York. 
My  reply  was  that  such  had  not  been  the  case,  to  which  you 
remarked  that  heretofore  you  understood  the  matter  had  gone 
that  way,  and  pointed  out  the  route  to  me  on  the  map — adding 
that  there  might  be  a  better  way  across  the  country  for  the  fu- 
ture. I  confess  I  was  much  surprised  and  disappointed  on 


20 

learning  these  views,  and  the  more  so  from  the  fact  that  Major 
Hobbie  had,  in  an  effort  to  arrange  for  Sunday  service  on  the 
route,  more  than  once  remarked  that  this,  between  Boston  and 
Buffalo,  was  one  of  their  great  mail  routes.  I  saw  therefore, 
the  necessity  of  correcting  your  impressions  on  this  point,  both 
in  reference  to  compensation  for  past  service,  and  to  the  terms 
of  a  future  contract,  for  which  I  that  day  made  proposals.  I 
therefore  called  at  the  department  in  the  evening  according  to 
appointment.  As  I  was  passing  to  your  room  with  Major  H. 
he  observed  that  he  would  first  see  if  you  could  attend  to  the 
matter  then,  and  left  me.  After  waiting  in  his  room  for  nearly 
an  hour,  as  I  thought,  he  came  in  and  said  you  were  ready  to 
decide  the  case !  To  which  I  replied  that  I  had  attended  for 
the  purpose  of  explaining  my  views  of  the  case  before  asking  a 
decision, — that  it  was  of  no  use  for  me  to  argue  a  case  after  it 
had  been  decided — but  I  had  no  objections  to  going  in.  On 
joining  you,  you  remarked  that  you  had  been  looking  over  all 
the  correspondence  and  papers,  and  had  come  to  a  conclusion 
upon  them.  I  replied  that  there  were  some  views  which  I 
should  like  to  have  presented.  You  then  observed,  that  the 
service  having  been  performed,  you  were  willing  to  pay  for  it, 
at  what  was  paid  for  similar  service  elsewhere.  That  on  look- 
ing at  the  contract  for  service  on  the  Norwich  and  Providence 
roads,  you  would  take  them,  and  particularly  the  Norwich 
road,  as  a  criterion,  and  allow  in  addition  to  the  old  pay,  at  the 
rate  of  $730  per  annum  ($365  for  the  6  months  service.)  To 
which  I  replied  that  that  was  too  small  a  game  for  me  to  play, 
and  that  it  was  not  worth  while  to  make  any  order  about  it ; 
and  that  the  service  on  the  Norwich  road  bore  no  comparison 
to  ours  in  extent  and  importance,  ours  being  a  first-class  heavy- 
mail,  and  theirs  a  mere  way-mail.  Thus  have  closed  my  nego- 
tiations on  this,  to  me,  troublesome  matter.  Had  I  been  favor- 
ed with  the  opportunity  desired,  I  had  intended  to  satisfy  you 
that  this  mail  between  Boston,  Albany  and  Buffalo,  including 
the  Canada  matter,  was  one  of  the  heaviest  and  most  import- 
ant ones  in  the  Northern  States,  and  particularly  as  connected 
with  the  Cunard  line  of  steamers.  That  punctuality  and  des- 
patch were  indispensable  to  the  business  community  and  to  the 


21 

Department — that  on  a  recent  occasion,  the  mail  being  carried 
from  Albany  to  Springfield  by  stages,  failed  to  arrive  in  season 
for  our  Eastern  cars,  and  on  being  opened  in  Boston,  was  found 
to  contain  1000  letters  for  the  steamer,  which  sailed  the  same 
day  before  their  arrival,  and  they  lay  over  two  weeks  for  the 
next  packet ;  that  during  the  last  year,  in  forty-two  consecutive 
days,  this  same  Albany  and  Springfield  stage  mail  failed  of 
arrival  in  time  to  connect  with  the  cars  on  thirty-eight  of  those 
days,  and  lay  over  one  day  at  Springfield  on  each  trip — and 
that  on  one  recent  occasion  this  mail  delivered  at  the  Albany 
office  alone,  letters  paying  $300  postage. 

It  may  not  be  irrelevant  to  add,  in  reference  to  the  Norwich 
Mail,  taken  as  a  standard  for  ours,  that  it  is  a  chance,  way  mail 
only,  from  Norwich  to  Worcester,  principally  for  the  supply  of 
way-offices.  The  stage  mail  there  (No.  452  in  1837)  was  only 
three  times  a  week  at  $1000.  When  that  rail-road  was  open- 
ed in  1840,  the  company,  desirous  of  giving  notoriety  to  their 
line,  solicited  the  privilege  of  a  mail  at  any  price  the  depart- 
ment were  willing  to  allow.  The  mail  was  put  on  at  a  sum 
named  by  the  department.  It  was  an  interior  side  mail  con- 
necting with  the  great  Boston  and  Buffalo  Mail  at  Worcester. 
The  service  was  six  times  a  week  in  summer,  and  three  times 
only  in  winter — to  be  carried  only  at  hours  varying  with  the 
accommodation  trains  of  the  company.  It  had  no  mail-car, 
and  carried  no  mail-agent.  And  I  do  not  believe  its  weight 
would  average  l-10th  part  the  weight  of  ours. 

These,  sir,  are  the  facts  in  reference  to  the  subject,  as  I  un- 
derstand them.  If  I  am  found  in  material  error,  I  shall  be 
most  happy  to  stand  corrected.  But  in  view  of  them — and  in 
view  of  the  gross  injustice  done  us  by  the  department,  I  feel 
that  we  shall  stand  justified  by  our  stockholders,  and  by  our 
whole  community,  however  deeply  interested  in  the  subject,  in 
declining  longer  to  continue  the  transportation  of  the  mail  on 
the  terms  prescribed. 

I  am,  sir,  with  the  greatest  respect, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

GEORGE  BLISS, 
Agent  Western  Rail-road  Corporation. 


Manufacture  J  by 
1 6AYLORD  BROS.  Inc. 

Syracuse,  N.  Y. 
Stockton,  Calif. 


M221592 

~S7^| 


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